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 My Next Theatre Appearance 
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Postby mr_walker* » Sun May 03, 2009 12:29 pm


Bah! Directors, what do they know?


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Postby SKaVeN » Sun May 03, 2009 1:31 pm


Haha! The director's actually one of my best friends. I'm sort of doing this show as a favour. I have had some pretty shocking directors in the past but. I've even had one walk out two weeks before Opening Night (without even starting any work on the second half).


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Postby SKaVeN » Wed Jun 10, 2009 10:03 pm


"Richard II" is coming along nicely (if anyone cares)... :lol:


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Postby bullwinkle » Thu Jun 11, 2009 11:08 am


No-one cares.

My daughter just finished a production of Godspell for her school, if anyone cares.


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Postby SKaVeN » Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:39 pm


The 'Tiser 6/8/09

L 3299x1109 270


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Postby SKaVeN » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:24 am


Not too bad...

Quote:
An excellent rendition of a very gloomy and yet rhythmical Shakespearean tragedy.

In contrast to his comedies, Shakespeare’s tragedies are intense, long and never end well. Their attraction lies in the characterization and the rhyme and metre – the poetry of the language.

King Richard II is no exception with complex characters and elegiac dialogue that are in the excellent hands of actors such as Graham Self as King Richard and John Edge as John of Gaunt.

Director Harry Dewar has led an entire cast of actors who have mastered the art of Shakespearean characterization making the most of the beautiful language while remaining intelligible, an art which has flummoxed many another company.

King Richard II, one of Shakespeare’s historical plays, opens with Richard himself interrupting a duel between his cousin Henry Bolingbroke (Russell Slater) and Duke of Norfolk Thomas Mowbray (SKaVeN). He banishes both men. This is the first act of Richard that displays his rash misuse of kingly power and sets in motion consequences for later events.

Graham Self is excellent in the title role, depicting both the aristocratic pride and the personal realizations that come in the wake of such pride. As is often the case in Shakespeare’s tragedies the main characters are seriously flawed and suffer as a consequence. King, princes, queens and other such dignities are often depicted as power-mongers who are hoisted by their own petard. Richard, in the hands of Graham Self, is no exception. Self easily portrays the foolhardy young Richard who gradually realizes the heavy price of his folly. He may lose his kingdom, but he gains wisdom and his soul in doing so. This is a profound story and Self is to be congratulated on portraying the many hues.

John Edge yet again shows his expertise in Shakespearean roles as Richard’s uncle John of Gaunt. He commands the stage and easily delivers some of the most moving lines in Shakespeare particularly in his dying speech about young King Richard - “His rash fierce blaze of riot cannot last, For violent fires soon burn out themselves”.

Russell Slater stands proud and angry as the banished and beleaguered Bolingbroke, who rallies to return in rage and claim the throne and be crowned as King Henry IV.

Bronwyn Ruciak excels as the Duke of Northumberland, as does David Mitchell as the blustering Duke of York. Marieka Hambledon is a sweet and loving Queen Isabella but sometimes mumbles her dialogue as she tries to master a foreign accent. Nevertheless her parting scenes with her husband masterfully depict some of the most personal and moving scenes in the production.

The use of a simple stage setting and plain-coloured props aids the many scene changes, but sometimes the movement of props seems superfluous and slows down the action. These actors do well enough to maintain the attention without the need to move scenery. King Richard is a long play at more than 3 hours and this production does lag a little in the latter half of the second half. Nevertheless lovers of Shakespeare are likely to appreciate this fine production, and others will easily understand the plot, the characters and the poetry.


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Postby atefooterz » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:29 am


not too bad is a bit modest, the critic was entertained ... a good thing :D


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Postby SKaVeN » Sat Aug 15, 2009 1:50 am


Thanks, mate. I'm just glad I dodged a bullet. Opening night was not a good one for me...


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Postby SKaVeN » Sun Aug 16, 2009 3:30 am


And another:

Quote:
There’s big drama and a large cast at the Little Theatre for “Richard II”.

The first in Shakespeare’s teratology contains some of the Bard’s most beautiful poetry and during this production that’s delivered with aplomb.

Unlike Shakespeare's Elizabethan audience, the modern theatergoer is unfamiliar with the back-story concerning Richard’s connection with the murder of the Duke of Gloucester. Director Harry Dewar overcomes this by setting the play during the 1930’s as the world is on the brink of a world war. The cast wear period mufti or military uniforms. For example, Richard wears a naval and Bolingbroke an army uniform throughout most of the production.

Graham Self forces us to see Richard II as a foolish dictator who has the courage of his misguided convictions. There are also fine performances by Mollie Birch as the Duchess of Gloucester, John Edge is delightful as John of Gaunt, David Mitchell grabs our sympathies as an indecisive York, Marieka Hambledon is believable as Queen Isabella and Georgia Dodd has great presence as Bushy.

Unusually, the production opens in a ball room with a chanteuse singing Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18, “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” Everyone is merrily decadent until Bolingbroke (Russell Slater) and Mowbray (SKaVeN) accuse each other of treason.

From then on it’s all action and striking poetic language – there’s very little prose in this play – with Bolingbroke the man of the hour and Richard clinging on to his throne.

This play is nothing without a strong actor portraying Richard II and Self copes with the verse with adequate authority to keep the audience engaged.


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Postby SKaVeN » Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:47 pm


I know it's a bit late now but I only just received this one myself:

Quote:
King Richard II

Of all Shakespeare’s plays dealing with the human frailties, failings and hopes of and in Kings, ‘King Richard II’ is easily the most beautiful and introspective of them all. Shakespeare’s tale of the fall from great heights of a proud, unthinking, monarch unaware his actions make him seen to be unfit to rule despite his belief in his God given right to rule in many ways parallels the fall Lear in Shakespeare’s ‘King Lear.’

Director Harry Dewar has many fine talents at hand in this production. In Graham Self, a marvellously proud, dashing and conceited Richard is offered, well opposed by a highly focused and ruthless Bolingbroke played by Russell Slater. John Edge’s John of Gaunt, father to Bolingbroke, superbly balances the moral essence of the rebellion that grows against Richard after Richard expeditiously banishes Gaunt’s son Bolingbroke and Thomas Mowbray (SKaVeN) to save political face, at first it seems, but there are darker reasons behind Richard’s actions.

Despite the talent, Dewar’s production offers crafted performances with no real sense of a strong directorial take on the piece. Dewar’s ‘Richard II’ appears more to be a production in which the director is still coming to grips with his own take on the very depths of the text. The style of the piece in terms of Peter Bok’s design is circa just before WWII, of itself offers some interesting possibilities when the life of Edward VII, the last known monarch to renounce his throne comes to mind, but that’s about it.

Dewar’s production offers an intellectually precise and faithful recount of Shakespeare’s play that nonetheless has a number of high moments which shine and performances that hint at what might have been. David Mitchell’s wonderfully wavering Duke of York, Uncle to Richard and Bronwyn Ruciak’s Northumberland are a wonderfully superb expression of the character’s highly focused and politically astute manipulation of the ‘morality’ of the circumstances they both find themselves in as the pro and anti-Richard camps marshal forces against each other.


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